


By Any Other Name

by CrimsonQuills



Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-19
Updated: 2010-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 19:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonQuills/pseuds/CrimsonQuills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Herald Mages are being rediscovered in Valdemar. What does that mean for the Heralds as a whole?</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greenegret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenegret/gifts).



The shouts of hawkers blended with the bright, excited chatter of children distracted from their errands by a warm spring day and created a wash of noise that drowned out Jessik’s thoughts. Slowly her shoulders, drawn up tight around her ears, relaxed and came down. Her legs tightened unconsciously, eager.

 _:Believe me, Chosen, I’d shoulder through the crowd faster if I could,:_ Pelena mindspoke. _:There’s sweet spring grasses waiting at Companions’ Field. Yaysil’s mind is in a haze of contentment.:_

Jessik smiled and leaned down to stroke Pelena’s arched neck. _:It’s okay. I want to rest, but I missed the city, too.:_

A welter of scents filled the air. Dust kicked up by hundreds of travelers. Cooking meat, grilled and spiced a dozen different ways. Dung, ever ahead of the collectors. Jessik breathed deeply. Home.

It had been a long, strange circuit this year. Almost two years on the road. Long, but that wasn't the strange part. When Jessik had ridden out of the city, rumors abounded that Princess Elspeth had gone missing, or been banished, or run away and abandoned her people. By the time Jessik's circuit started bringing her closer to Haven, rather than further away, everyone had been half convinced the Princess was dead. Combined with a truly unnatural amount of rain, the mood on the road had been bleak.

Sitting judgments had been easier than taking her dinner surrounded by anxious townspeople every night, trying to reassure them that Elspeth was away on a task fully approved by Queen and Council, that they had expected her to be out of contact, that everything was fine...especially when Jessik herself didn't know anything at all about that task. She could have taken meals in her room, but she kept dragging herself into the common room of whatever inn hosted her, or the living room of the house, in the smaller villages. It was a Herald's duty to combat rumor and fear.

But on the circuit back towards Haven, the rumors had changed. Princess Elspeth was back, she had brought monsters with her, no, the monsters had brought her, no, they weren't monsters at all, they were magical creatures, they _were_ magic, the Princess had converted to some foreign religion, the Princess had abdicated...it was insane.

Jessik had started worrying she'd run out of space in the road journal she kept to help her memory when it came time to report. The spring, as late as it came, and the familiar craziness of Haven's markets and streets were a welcome relief.

"Ho, Herald," the guardsman in midnight blue and silver called as Pelena carried her beneath the gate to the Palace and Collegium grounds. "Coming off circuit?"

Glancing ruefully down at her road-beaten garments, Jessik nodded. "A long one. Nineteen months."

"You've a lot to catch up on," the guardsman said. "I'd grab a bath and a meal and a change of clothes before you report in. It won't be quick, not even if you had a quiet circuit, and precious few have 'til now, with Ancar rumbling about out there."

Jessik grimaced. "I wasn't on the border. But that's probably why I was out so long." With more Heralds going to the border, those riding circuit for their own citizens needed to cover more ground. "At least that bastard is done with. Thanks for the advice."

 _:What was that about?:_ Jessik mindspoke Pelena. _:I know a lot has happened, but that's the kind of thing you pick up from other Heralds in the mess hall, not during debriefing.:_

 _:Yaysil says that Princess Elspeth really has abdicated. He says that she's a Mage now, that Valdemar is going to have Herald Mages again.:_ Pelena's voice was strangely quiet. Not awed, something else.

Jessik stroked Pelena's neck absently. Herald Mages! It was like something out of a tale. Would Heralds even have to ride circuit anymore, with Mages in their midst? News had traveled fast of Ancar's defeat, but by the time it had reached her she'd been wary of the details. Magic had been involved, she'd heard, but she'd thought it had been foreign mages. Jessik's mind raced, trying to sort truth from rumor.

 _:We'll know more soon enough, Chosen,:_ Pelena said soothingly.

 _:I hope so. Riding circuit is supposed to put me more in touch with Valdemar, not leave me behind the times!:_

Normally, Jessik preferred to report first, so that she could enjoy her bath and linger over her evening meal, reconnecting with her fellows in the mess hall. But the guard's words niggled in her brain, and she found herself scrubbing off the road dirt and dressing carefully instead. She almost didn't eat first, her stomach was so tight, but Pelena graced her with a vision of herself, hungry and irritable, snapping at a senior Herald, and she managed to get some savory stew and a roll down.

She was glad when she went to report and found not only a senior Herald, but the Princess herself waiting.

"Highness," Jessik said, bowing hurriedly.

Elspeth waved a dismissive hand. "I'm not the heir anymore, Herald. Elspeth is fine."

Jessik shook her head. "You're still your mother's daughter." She sank carefully into a chair that faced Elspeth and the other Herald--Ensel, she thought his name was--across a desk. No matter what she said, it was clear Elspeth didn't want to be treated like any other Herald, not with Whites like those. Jessik had only seen such complex stitching on court ladies.

"Fair enough," Elspeth smiled easily. "I assume you're wondering why I'm here."

"That and a great many other things," Jessik said.

"The short answer is, I'm checking Heralds for the Mage Gift." Elspeth's expression grew solemn. "We need them, Herald Jessik. Even with Ancar defeated, we need them. Magic is growing more active everywhere, and Valdemar isn't protected the way it used to be."

Jessik pursed her lips and studied the former heir. Why the extra emphasis, when Elspeth surely had other pressing business? "I have it, don't I?"

Elspeth's mouth turned up at the corners. "Yes. A little bit."

"And what does that mean? Will I still ride circuit? Will anyone?" As much as the long days away from Haven made her lonely, sometimes, Jessik's heart ached at the thought of a Valdemar without Heralds riding the roads.

Elspeth's eyebrows flew upwards. "Of course! The Mage Gift is rare, and mages are still human. A hundred of us couldn't watch over Valdemar as closely as Heralds riding circuit do. Besides, we'll need the Herald Mages for very...particular problems."

"Harder problems?"

Elspeth frowned. "Magic problems."

"Highness..." Elspeth shot her a look and Jessik resisted rolling her eyes. "My Lady. Magic may have become familiar to you, but it's still something out of tales to the rest of Valdemar, and in the tales it's always very powerful. It solves all the problems."

 _:And those who wield it are special,:_ Pelena broke in.

Jessik added that aloud. "If you're not careful, Valdemarans are going to go right back to venerating Herald Mages and taking the ordinary...the other..." Jessik grimaced. "You see the problem? Already Heralds Mages are set apart."

"I take your point." Elspeth leaned back in her chair, absentmindedly twining a lock of hair around one finger. "We could leave most Herald Mages on circuit...after training and except in emergencies, of course."

"That would help," Jessik said, nodding. "And...you probably don't need to meet with them like this."

"I need to identify the new mages," Elspeth reminded her.

"Yes. But do you need to do it one on one? I bet you spend more time with those who have the gift, too. And do you need to leave a senior Herald," Jessik nodded to Ensel, turning his pencil over in his hands and still waiting for her report, "cooling his heels while the mages talk?"

Elspeth winced and shot Ensel an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't think... I can't escape this sense of urgency, that we're going to need mages on hand sooner rather than later."

"We understand that, my Lady," Ensel said quietly. "But perhaps you could meet with groups of returning Heralds every two weeks, instead of at intake. Tell them all the reason for the meeting, and let them all hear the Herald Mages' questions and answers."

 _:Why are they called Herald Mages, anyway?:_ Pelena sent.

Jessik's brow wrinkled. _:What do you mean?:_

 _:Well, do we call you a Herald FarSeer? Is Yaysil's Herald a Herald Fetcher? Just because the Mages got a special title in the old days doesn't mean they should have one now, not if you want people to regard mages and other Heralds as equals.:_

Jessik's attention returned to Elspeth to see her focus returning in the same fashion and knew that the conversation had been relayed via Elspeth's Gwena. "She has a point," Elspeth said wryly. "Though it remains to be seen if that's a habit we can break. But we can try. Excuse me, Heralds," she rose from her seat. "I have some thinking to do." She circled the desk and crossed the room, but paused at the door. "Herald Jessik."

Turning, Jessik raised her eyebrows in inquiry. "Yes, my Lady?"

"Thank you."

Jessik smiled. "Thank you for listening."

Elspeth smiled back and nodded before leaving.

Sighing, Jessik turned back to Ensel. "Mage training." She made a face. "I just wanted to enjoy being home for awhile."

He chuckled. "Now there's a reaction I've not heard before." Ensel tilted his head. "Though perhaps it will become more common."

Jessik shrugged. "Here's hoping."

~End~


End file.
